07/9/2017 through 10/20/2017

Featured Exhibits

Check out the free WWI in North Texas Centennial apps, which align with the Featured Exhibits for Apple, and Android mobile devices:

Pre-war and Mexico Texas Border Conflicts

German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann sent a top-secret telegram to the President of Mexico in January 1917.

The message proposed that if Mexico were to ally with Germany, attack the United States, and invite Japan into the war, “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona” would be regained by Mexico.

The Army and Camp Bowie

Camp Bowie coming to Fort Worth was a much needed economic boom and helped further the development of the entire westside of Fort Worth. The camp covered 2,186 acres and had a machine gun and rifle firing range as well as 10 miles of trenches used for field training.

36th Division Panel - The 36th Division was organized for the first time at Camp Bowie and was made up of men in National Guard Units from both Texas and Oklahoma. A division consisted of about 29,000 men and they used horses and wagons to transport most everything.

Multicultural Aspects of WWI and North Texas

When the US declared war against Germany in 1917, Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanics became Army soldiers training at Camp Bowie and at other camps in Texas.

However, segregation and discrimination affected how these three categories of men were treated in the military.

Regional Culture

During World War I, Americans spent their leisure time seeing movies, going to vaudeville shows, dancing in dance halls to popular music, and reading books.

The war affected the popular culture just as much as it did all other aspects of life and was important in reflecting and influencing popular opinion.

Aviation, Army Air Service & Royal Flying Corps airfields

Fort Worth and North Texas began its important role in American aviation during WWI. The establishment of military aviation fields, a depot, and other facilities set the foundation for a new era of technological progress that continues to this day.

Aviation was first employed extensively during World War I. The technology expanded rapidly from the intense interest and use. Many people learned how to build, maintain, and fly airplanes during the war.

The airplane’s importance role was recognized as key to winning a war, because of its ability to control the air, strike the ground, perform reconnaissance, and be mobile. North Texas became an key region for aviation because of the number of airfields and facilities established by the army here.

World Overview

WWI was a global phenomenon that had a profound effect on nations from Asia to the Americas and Europe. This conflict had several push-pull factors that had brought the world to war.

There was not one single reason that each nation, or territory, chose to enter armed conflict. Each one did so in order to preserve what its leaders felt was in the best interest of the nation.

Living History

Reenactors dressed in period attire will be on hand to demonstrate to the public the uniforms and gear that a soldier during WWI would have had, as well as what life was like for the men and women who served during the war.

Home Front

World War I was an engine of change in Fort Worth as it brought a large Army camp with 30,000 men and three air fields to the area. The people of Fort Worth worked to accommodate Camp Bowie and its soldiers while they responded to the needs of a country at war.

WWI north texas Timeline

July 5, 1916

U.S. Army ordered 13,950 horses, and mules through the Fort Worth Stockyards. Foreign powers were purchasing through the Stockyards for at least a year prior.

June 18, 1917

Cadet W.K. Carruthers is killed in an airplane accident at Mineola, Texas. It was recommended to rename the field named in his honor.